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Standard Cellphone Chargers For Europeans
k33l0r writes "The European Commission is confident that all major cellphone companies have reached an agreement on a standard cellphone charger for consumers within the EU. 'People will not have to throw away their charger whenever they buy a new phone,' said EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen.
Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Apple, LG, NEC, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung and Texas Instruments have all signed the agreement."
Well this may carry over as a convenience to the US but I doubt it.(why have two plants making two different types of chargers when you can have one plant making one charger type). That why is Verizon & AT&T. They love locking people in, and since there are so many service carriers they do so with products (iPhone for one).
Hopefully this will spread - but I doubt it.
I do not support "The Man". I also do not support your irrational stupidity
The story is incorrectly tagged miniusb. It's actually micro USB (which is an inferior connector, in my opinion) which is slightly smaller and lacks the "ears" of mini USB, which is what the Blackberry uses.
-Peter
http://douglasadams.com/dna/980707-03-a.html
That would be nice to have a standard for Li-ion batteries too, from mobile phones to shavers and laptops. This way, it would be easier to recycle and replace batteries, lower costs and remove vendor-specific locks. I like alkaline batteries: around 4-5 different formats to power most of our stuff. With Li-ion, we have gained in power and time, but lost in flexibility. Is that so difficult to implement ?
The Commission said the agreement would involve the creation of an EU norm, and that the new generation of mobile phones would use a standard micro-USB socket to ensure compatibility.
4th paragraph
I do not support "The Man". I also do not support your irrational stupidity
You mean the manufacturers will be able to make the charger an accessory.
At additional cost^H^H^H^Hprofit.
Saving the planet, one quarter's financial results at a time. I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy again, especially around my wallet.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
My girlfriend and me have both a Sony-Ericson phone, bought 3 years apart. Guess what ? Both chargers and connectors are proprietary, fragile, weird and different! Of course if you lose it you'll have to spend an arm to get a replacement.
However this will only work if vendors give the option NOT to get a new charger with a new phone. Otherwise, this will not be really useful.
Overall this is a positive step. Yes current gen phone chargers/accessories won't be involved but such is life for new technology standards - some things get left behind. But from next year and on we will be using a standardized interface which will mean you only have to buy the product once. Since they are all the same expect better pricing ($20 for a charger = rip off). One of the things that kept me from going to a new product type was having to re-buy all of my accessories...i would have to negotiate with the sales person "new phone and contract needs to come with new chargers for my car, home, and work plus computer adapter or no deal"
I do not support "The Man". I also do not support your irrational stupidity
A good exemple that sometimes the market is unable to find the most optimal solution and someone has to regulate.
http://www.transparency.org
Hahaha. You must be new here.
;) Just sometimes feel like an old man holding out for an ideal age where people read the article (or at least admit they didn't). Then again I still hold out for the day skittles will pop sunshine out of my ass.
I do not support "The Man". I also do not support your irrational stupidity
Any word on whether or not they'll be adding a cryptographic handshake that will lock the chargers down harder than connector swapping ever did?
They could even adopt a wireless commerce model: "The charger you have connected is not an official 'Motorola by Verizon' brand charger. Press 'OK' to activate the charger for a payment of $29.95 or purchase an official charger." With cellphone location services, you could even do location based selective lockouts! "I'm sorry, your charger is authorized for home use only. Please subscribe to our 'Home and Business' charger plan or, for travellers, 'National Omnicharge Premium' for just $19.95 a month."
Ah, evil.
I'm no environ-nut. I don't bend over backwards to save the earth. But I do make a change when something 'makes sense.'
A prius? Value isn't there. High up-front costs, low performance. I think not.
E-85? Lower energy output than gasoline. Starving people that depend on Corn. Did you know that last year the Mexicans had a shortage of corn products. Do you know they use a LOT more corn than we (US-IANS) do .Glad we're past that.
On the other hand:
CFL - A time and a place. I leave our front porch lights on at night, and a few others for security. I put in CFLs to save a little money. They run all night and I don't need them instantly, so the warm up time doesn't bother me. I tried them in a closet... No way. I'm done in the closet before they warm up. They make all of my clothes look blue so I can't figure out which pants are which. And I'll be damned if I ever put them in the kids room. HIGH chance of broken bulb. Mercury/Carpet/Kids don't mix.
LED bulbs... I can't wait (till they're under $5.) Instant-on, LOW wattage, user-selectable colors. The US may as well skip mandating CFL because LED is where we're going.
Other Hybrids... Before long, NASCAR is going to see that there's some way to make this hybrid stuff make cars go faster and farther without a pit-stop... There are four industries here that drive new tech for the consumer. Military, NASA, Nascar and pr0n.
And all my devices on the same plug? GREAT. Less waste will hopefully mean less cost for me. Sure the manufacturers are going to eat most of that money as profit. But, if it means that I don't have to worry about buying a $30 car charger from ATT, I can just use a generic one for $5. Plus I can have a charger in the car, a charger at home and one at the office. I'll never have to worry about being without my iPhone cable again. At a neighbor's house? Good, their's is the same.
Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
I take it that Apple isn't part of this little bandwagon.
L2RTFA. They agreed to it.
I do not support "The Man". I also do not support your irrational stupidity
press release and a memo.
Most interesting parts:
Incompatibility of chargers for mobile phones is a major inconvenience for users and also leads to unnecessary waste. Therefore, the Commission has requested industry to come forward with a voluntary commitment to solve this problem so as to avoid legislation.
and
Industry commits to provide chargers compatibility on the basis of the Micro-USB connector. Once the commitment becomes effective, it will be possible to charge data-enabled mobile phones from any charger compatible with the common specifications.
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
..is how even if it's a standard plug (mini or micro USB) they tweek the phone so it won't accept a standard USB cable rather you get the "Unauthorized Charger" message. Good for the EU... I wish the US consumer protection agencies would step up on issues like this that would make a difference.
My Motorola phone has a standard mini-usb connector but you STILL can't use it with standard charger. Why? "Un authorized charger".
From what I've pieced together it has a chip in it to fake that it is connected to a computer. This is a double edged sword of uselessness
1) I can't use my Garmin charger with my phone because it's "un authorized" and won't charge.
2) I can't use my Motorola charger with my Garmin because Garmin puts itself into PC mode (instead of navigation mode).
So now I have to carry 2 - 12V -> USB devices with me because of Motorola.
Trust me, keep an eye out for the buzz words "authentic" "valid" "safe" "genuine".
Do people really throw away their old chargers?
I would suspect that if you're buying a new phone, old accessories tend to share the same fate as the phone. If you're throwing away the phone, you generally throw away the chargers, too. And why not? The new phone will come with a new charger. The only real exception I can see is if your new phone has the same charger and you want a second charger-- but then again, if you really need a second charger, you may have already bought a second charger for your old phone, still leaving you with an extra.
And so this is where the standardization comes into play: new phones won't be packaged with their own chargers. It will be an optional add-on, since the manufacturer can assume that you probably have an appropriate charger already. And even if you don't, it will be easy enough to find one. Because all phones will charge using the same port, compatible chargers will be sold everywhere.
RTFA
It will be Mini-USB. However there are 2 issues still to clarify.
1. Will the phone be required to charge at the standard voltages delivered by a PC USB port? I would hate to see that BS achieved by Motorola, where you can only charge on a PC if the Motorola Charger is installed. I would prefer if everyone else has to change to match Blackberry. If my Blackberry runs low in the data center I can just plug into any exposed USB port on a powered up server. . A Dell waiting at the BIOS screen or a SUN in full production.
2. Will this be coordinated with the Chinese standard? If both the EU and China agree on a standard, India and Japan can be convinced to adopt it. Leaving America to figure out which direction it wants to go.
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
The dock connector already accepts USB charging.. they just need to produce an adapter cable - which knowing apple will be an optional accessory costing arm+leg.
Apple indicates while it won't drop its connector, it will enable adaptors to be made:
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/apple-won-t-drop-dock-connector-for-micro-usb-612103
Considering that it already connects to USB sockets, then all that is needed is a USB - micro-USB adaptor.
The only question is whether USB power plugs will be made 'smarter', since there are still some that won't charge certain telephones for what ever reason.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Because the chargers you buy from the misc. vendors are typically cheaper in quality. They are not as tuned to the device and may send power surges which could damage your phone. They are also not as efficient and this turns out into more energy use. Not noticeable for one person, but take into consideration that millions of people use these devices and that adds up to wasted energy.
Think of your cell phone as your home computer (mine has important contact information, some pics, etc). Do you just plug your computer into the wall or do you use a surge protector (or even UPS device to prevent spikes/surges)? I use a nice UPS. I want my computer to not be damaged...I also don't want my phone to be damaged. I'd imagine someone who spent $500 on their iPhone GS want's to protect that investment too.
I do not support "The Man". I also do not support your irrational stupidity
MiniUSB is rated for 1000 connect/disconnect cycles
MicroUSB is rated for 10,000 connect/disconnect cycles, and is also thinner by about 1.5mm (critical on modern thin devices).
Given the power consumption on some smartphones, having the more durable connector is IMO, essential.
Test your net with Netalyzr
I like that my PS3 controller uses mini USB for charging. I can even charge it right from my MacBook! There are a lot of things that can be recharged, and as things get more wireless, it's going to become more important.
Induction chargers are the solution, you don't need any sockets.
Plus you can just place multiple items on it.
C'mon market fetishist mod me down!
This is part of the USB spec. Originally USB hosts were only required to provide a certain amount of current to devices. Later they decided to increase this, but to provide backwards compatibility the device has to ask if the host is capable of sourcing that much current before it starts drawing it.
America will use the same charger standard when the chips for power and charging based on that standard become super cheap. Which will be the case a year or so after the standard is adopted.
There is a lot more to it than just having a micro-USB connector (people say mini-USB, but they clearly did not RTFA). A lot of us in consumer electronics, especially mobile devices tend to do crazy things with charging. Like run the USB ports at 6V+ when charging. Or have special resistors shorted over the data lines to detect a "carkit" versus a PC. When you charge on a PC you have to negotiate with the PC on being able to draw more than a 100 mA before negoiation (which you have a short period to indicate the amount of load you actually wish to draw before being shut off by some hosts). The maximum of 500mA is not really enough for good fast charging of beefier mobile devices (like some GPS units and book readers), so the chargers that come with it almost always provide a lot more power.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
... You observe that phones have non-standard connectors and therefore require special cables to be connected to computers. A standardised charger requires a standard plug. I expect that this standard plug would not just be used for charging, but also for connecting to computers. The issue will therefore be addressed in parallel. ...
So it seems they are aware of the issue and 'addressing' it. I'm interpreting 'expect' in the sense of 'England expects every man to do his duty' rather than 'I expect it'll be alright'.
The trouble with charging through a USB connector is that it's also a USB port. Most phones aren't well-protected against attacks via the USB port. With a common charger interface, you're going to find charger outlets everywhere. Some of them will be hostile.
So now you need a cable that only passes power. But that may not be enough. Motorola RAZR phones, for example, won't charge on PCs unless the Motorola driver is present to do the handshake. By default,a USB port will deliver at least 100mA, but if asked, it may deliver up to 500mA. Laptops actively manage USB power; desktop systems often don't bother.
So you may need a data connection, which opens up a whole new range of attacks on phones. Which means you may sometimes need a "firewall", a device which does the USB handshake and requests 500mA, then delivers it over a cable with no data wires.
This has been possible for a while, but with standardization, we'll have outlet strips with USB ports all over the place, in cafes, on aircraft, in cars, etc.
Why should we read articles before we comment on them? Congress doesn't read bills before they vote on them. By golly, it's the American way! :)
2. Will this be coordinated with the Chinese standard? If both the EU and China agree on a standard, India and Japan can be convinced to adopt it. Leaving America to figure out which direction it wants to go.
If the metric system vs. SAE is any gauge, we'll use our own thing.
This space for rent, inquire within.
Add to that, when their usb implementation is properly following spec, the maximum draw is 100 mA when connected, and then must do a software handshake to get the full 500 mA. That can only be done by either installing the drivers (Nokia Suite is a large wad of rubbish), or having the drivers come with the OS (bloat bloat bloat). So unless you always charge at your own PC (which, on trips, is not something you do a lot, unless you happen to carry your laptop everywhere), you get a sucky 100 mA from the wall, or they are ignoring the spec (which means, stick another phone on it using another variation of the spec, things can go poof by overcharging).
Since the USB spec doesn't allow a whole lot of power, you'd need more charging time. My E71 can draw 800 mA at 5 Volts, so my 1.5 Ah 3.7 volt battery is full in ~1.4 hours, while at 500 mA around 2.2 hours, or at 100 mA around 11.1 hours. Not something you're willing to do every night in some hotel, especially with power-sucking smartphones that die within a couple of hours/days.
Sure, everybody charging their phones on the same connector is fun and all, but my Nokia charger is around 4 cc, and you get one with a new phone any ways. My dad and mom both have Nokia phones (My mom has an older model with the larger socket, but a simple €5 adapter works great), and many people do, so it's never a problem to charge your phone when you don't have your own charger around.
I'll have my standard nokia charger please, and add to that, I'm not that fond of the micro-usb connector. It feels a bit flimsy.
Not enough detail in the article, but most likely by following the USB Battery Charging Specification. (Which was, unfortunately, released long after numerous "de facto" standards for signaling dumb chargers became prolific, most of which involve tying mini-USB pin 4 to ground with varying amounts of resistance. This can't be done in micro-USB, as micro-USB has specified meaning for pin 4.)
Does your Pre draw 1000 mA from a computer, or from a "dumb charger" that signals itself as such?
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
It will be the blind leading the blind . . . . into oblivion!
Oh, such a jolly good time it will be.
Günter Verheugen
I don't think you could pronounce that name without ripping out your tongue.
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)